Legislation that would allow families to install surveillance cameras in nursing-home residents’ rooms unanimously cleared the Senate on Tuesday.
S 2263, sponsored by Sen. Dawn Euer, D-Newport, would allow family members to install their own cameras in loved one’s rooms and remotely monitor their treatment. The resident would have to consent, unless their doctor determined they are incapable of doing so.
The bill would also apply to assisted living facilities. It now goes to the House of Representatives, where a companion bill has been introduced by Rep. Jason Knight, D-Barrington.
The debate: Empowering or Orwellian?
The legislation has faced opposition from organizations representing long-term care facilities, who say that allowing cameras would be Orwellian and go against their goal of creating a home-like environment.
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Additionally, opponents argue, anyone who would actually abuse an elderly person would disable the camera first.
Critics also say that surveillance would be insulting to nursing home staff. But SEIU 1199 New England, which represents workers at unionized nursing homes, came out in favor of the legislation and said that it could help protect workers from false accusations.
Proponents argue that the goal is to empower some of the state’s most vulnerable residents, and they note that nursing homes often have cameras in common areas.
More: What hundreds of pages of records reveal about nursing home resident-on-resident violence
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Lawmakers hear harrowing stories
Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, James Delisle said that his mother was sexually assaulted by a CNA at a nursing home in Warwick. That man ultimately had his license reinstated and “is working in the state of Rhode Island as a CNA, and as a predator,” he said.
“I don’t quite understand what happened,” Delisle testified said. “But ultimately, the ‘he said, she said’ part of this would not be even in question if we were to have this bill here.”
Ginny Lee, a member of Advocates for Better Care in Rhode Island and volunteer with the state Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s Office, described a disturbing case from several months ago: A resident was admitted to the hospital and placed in a room with electronic monitoring, and a hospital staffer “witnessed a person climbing in the person’s bed and starting to engage in sexual activity.”
“The chilling part of the story is the person was a CNA from the long-term facility where the patient lives,” Lee said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Euer said that in-room cameras “can provide a means of contact, oversight and protection” for residents and families that want it.
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“This does not impose an additional cost on the nursing home, as the devices would be paid for by the resident or their family,” she said. Additionally, “it would not constitute an invasion of privacy, as cameras would only be installed at the request of the resident and with the consent of any and all roommates.”
Learn more about nursing home violence and abuse
The Providence Journal recently reviewed hundreds of pages of records documenting resident-on-resident violence and abuse in nursing homes and created an online database tracking those incidents.
In numerous instances, police reports indicated that an alleged assault couldn’t be substantiated because it occurred in a resident’s private room, or because the only potential witnesses suffered from memory-loss disorders.
PROVIDENCE — The application period for Rhode Island’s charter schools opened this week, giving families a shot at roughly 3,000 seats projected to be available at charter schools next year.
A blind lottery for available seats will be held on April 1. Charter schools are in high demand in Rhode Island, with roughly 11,000 families submitting 30,000 applications for 2,500 seats lasts year. (Families can apply for more than one school.)
There are about 13,000 Rhode Island public school students currently enrolled in 25 charters, some of which are larger networks with multiple schools.
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Despite the demand, teachers unions and other public school advocates have sought to block the expansion of charter schools, concerned they are financially hurting the traditional public school system. School funding follows each child from their home school district to the charter school.
In this week’s episode of the Rhode Island Report, Chiara Deltito-Sharrott from the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools talks about the future of charter schools in Rhode Island, and provides a rebuttal to comments made by Maribeth Calabro, the head of Rhode Island’s largest teachers union, in an episode earlier this month.
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
United Way of Rhode Island accepts initial donations from the Fund’s sponsoring energy companies. (courtesy: United Way of Rhode Island)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — United Way of Rhode Island announced the Rhode Island Good Neighbor Energy Fund has begun for the 2024 through 2025 season.
The fund helps families that need assistance paying their home heating bills but are not eligible for federal or state assistance.
Since it was founded, the Good Neighbor Energy Fund has aided over 48,250 Rhode Island homes.
United RI says any local households in the state that are in need of funding assistance for energy are encouraged to contact a local Community Action Program agency, or to call the 211 helpline for help locating a CAP agency.
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GNEF eligibility is determined on total income not exceeding 300% of the federal poverty level, and provides up to $825 per household each heating season depending on eligibility, fuel type, and need.
United RI said in addition to sponsors, the fund relies on Rhode Islanders who donate through the “Warm Thy Neighbor” campaign.
Donations can be made through the yellow donation envelope enclosed with monthly energy bills, or by scanning the QR code on the envelope.
Additionally, donations can be given through phone by texting “WARM” to 91999.
For more information, visit United Way of Rhode Island’s website here.
Former U.S. Naval officer Darryl Lindie learned early in his career that taking care of his team was key to accomplishing a mission.
Since buying AASign & Awning in Warwick in 2023, Lindie has applied that philosophy to his business, giving his 30-person team paid days off and other benefits. But one offering remained a little too complicated and expensive: retirement savings.
Not for long.
Legislation approved in the 2024 General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee in September sets up a public retirement savings program for private-sector workers whose employers don’t already offer the investment option. Ahead of its formal launch, state officials unveiled details of the RISavers program at an event outside Lindie’s sign shop on Wednesday.
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Modeled after similar programs in other states, including Connecticut, RISavers automatically opens Roth Individual Retirement Accounts for eligible private-sector workers, set up through the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer with help from a third-party account administrator.
“It is absolutely true that anyone can open a Roth IRA or another retirement account whenever they want,” Treasurer James Diossa said. “But it’s also equally true that not everyone has the ability to navigate the financial sector. These things can be daunting and RISavers makes it quick and easy and helps ensure more Rhode Islanders are on a path to stable retirement.”
An estimated 170,000 Rhode Island workers, equal to 40% of the state’s private-sector workforce, don’t get retirement benefits through their jobs, according to information from Diossa’s office. Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon (left) and Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa announced a partnership between Connecticut and Rhode Island, sharing costs for administering their respective state public retirement programs. (Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
The program also alleviates the burden on small businesses, which have no obligation to match contributions. Their only cost is from processing payroll deductions from participating employees.
Businesses with at least five employees are mandated to make the new retirement program available to their workers, with phased-in deadlines based upon business size. Employers with at least 100 workers must enroll within the first year of the program, while those with 50 to 100 workers have to sign up within two years. All 400,000 businesses that meet the minimum employment requirement must join within three years. Businesses with fewer than five employees can also sign up anytime they want.
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“This represents a win for families, for the state economy, and for the overall well-being of our state,” McKee said.
And, it doesn’t come with any extra costs to taxpayers or extra staffing needs, as touted by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.
A fiscal note included with the legislation in March 2024 estimated a $311,000 startup cost, split between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, based on comparable startup costs in other states like Delaware and Maine. However, no additional money was used in the nearly $14 billion fiscal 2025 budget to pay for the program, which instead relied on existing funds within the treasurer’s office, according to Rob Craven, Diossa’s legislative affairs director.
Rhode Island will pay a $100,000 fee for Vestwell State Savings, split between this fiscal year and the next, to administer the program. Rhode Island is also partnering with Connecticut, which launched its public retirement savings program for public-sector employees two years ago, to share in administration costs and investment fees from Vestwell.
Which, in turn, drives down the fees for participating workers.
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The program will use Bank of New York Mellon for its accounts, the same financial services company Vestwell uses for its version of a public retirement account.
Since Connecticut launched the MyCTSavings program in April 2022, it has opened retirement accounts for nearly 30,000 state residents, who have invested $33 million, said Comptroller Sean Scanlon, who attended the event in Warwick.
As of June 30, 2024, 20 states had launched, or passed legislation to launch, retirement savings programs for private sector workers, 17 of which (including Rhode Island) automatically enroll eligible workers, according to the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University’ McCourt School of Public Policy.
Diossa plans to launch a pilot program with a small number of participants in the spring of 2025, opening up the program to full capacity “shortly after.”
Lindie is eager to sign up, noting the interest among his workers already. He hopes the perk will attract new workers to the growing, design-to-build sign shop.
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“We are looking for a younger generation of talent, and we need these kinds of benefits,” Lindie said.
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